Day 8: Thursday, October 9, 2008

Today's Stats:
Point of Origin: Riverton, PA
Destination: New Hope, PA
Trip Distance: 61.28 miles
Time: 4 hours, 31 minutes
Average Speed: 13.55 mph

To my great fortune, the number of a bed and breakfast which just happened to be in Riverton was printed on the back of my route map. To my even GREATER fortune, the owner of the Bellereve B & B took me in on last minute notice and even fed me that night, saying that I wouldn't be able to find any food around that area. I have truly been spoiled with hospitality over the course of this trip, which has made a huge impression on me. I was almost banking on this being my last day.

It was just over 90 miles to Philadelphia, and I knew it was probably a bit ambitious to get there, but I rode hard all day, stopping only twice to pick up my requisite junk food items and...well, it's a good thing I was wearing tights [haha, tights]. I really was going pretty fast (between 15-20 for most of the day), but my computer makes me look like I'm going slowly, as it was also calculating me walking across two bridges at 3.5 miles per hour.

I got to New Hope just around 4 pm and stopped at the New Hope Cyclery to see if they had any recommendations for getting down to Philly in two hours, when the sky would start getting dark. The owner there was really helpful in showing me how to get where I needed to go, but we both agreed that there wouldn't be enough time to make it before sunset.

So I decided to stay in New Hope for the evening. After a burrito and a pizza, I'm ready to go to sleep and wake up ready to finish my trip [me too, minus the burrito and pizza!].

I apologize for not posting any pictures today. I was racing time to get to Philly...